Hybrid seeds drive higher yields by combining traits from two distinct parent plants. However, the production of hybrid seeds depends on preventing self-pollination. Male sterility systems are limited, as manual emasculation is labor-intensive and error prone. To advance plant breeding programs, an improved, reliable, and efficient method to control male sterility is needed. The global hybrid rice seeds market has a compound annual growth rate of 13.32% in the 2020-2027 period and is expected to grow to 5.43 billion in 2027.
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a gene-editing method that disrupts the function of the rhomboid-like protease OsRBL3b (formerly called PVR1), enabling a stable male sterility system for hybrid breeding. It offers breeders a predictable and simple way to generate male sterile plants without harming overall plant performance. By applying a precise gene-editing strategy to turn off the OsRBL3b gene, researchers created plants that produce less viable pollen grains fail to release them but continue to grow normally. Because the trait is stable and does not rely on chemicals, environmental conditions, or manual labor, it has the potential for hybrid seed production.
Targeted gene-editing creates male-sterile parent plants for producing hybrid seeds
This method uses Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) associated protein 9 (Cas9) gene editing to disrupt the protease PVR1 in rice. The CRISPR construct targets a site near the catalytic Ser-187 region of OsRBL3b. When CRISPR-Cas9 edits this site, it causes small deletions in the DNA which lead to premature stop signals in the gene. This produces truncated, nonfunctional PVR1 proteins that lack protease activity. Once OsRBL3b is disrupted, it can no longer break down XA21. This causes XA21 to build up in the spikelets blocking pollen from maturing, and prevents the anthers from opening. As a result, the plants produce little or no pollen and become male-sterile.